Higher Ed Pulse

In this episode of Higher Ed Pulse hosted by Mallory Willsea, the team from Kettering University shares how they transformed a custom GPT from a simple experiment into a trusted, embedded part of their marketing workflow. Featuring Jennifer Umberger (VP & CMO), Lee Madaus (Content & Communications), and Dottie Gouine (Digital Storytelling), the conversation dives into how disciplined processes—not just access to AI—drive real resul...

Mallory sits down with Rachel Bowser, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the College at Agnes Scott College, to unpack one of the most ambitious examples of AI in higher education today.  Rather than treating AI as a supplemental skill, Agnes Scott is embedding AI literacy into the core first-year experience for every student. The conversation explores what it means to redesign curriculum at scale and why institutions ...

Welcome back to a new addition of our pulse Check Series "High School to Higher Ed", which has returned for 2026. In today's Part 1, Emma shares her firsthand experience visiting six colleges in Boston, providing insights into campus visits, student interactions, and how these experiences influence college choices.

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
h...

Mallory sits down with Dr. Nathan Pritts, Faculty Fellow for AI Strategy at the University of Arizona Global Campus, to unpack what real AI adoption looks like inside higher education. Moving beyond tools and policies, the conversation dives into the messy, human side of institutional change. Dr. Pritts shares how faculty-led experimentation, shared frameworks, and trust-building are essential to sustainable AI strategy. This episo...

For this week's Pulse Check, we revisit Devin Purgason's lightning session at the February Engage AI Summit, focused on adult learners. Devin, Vice President for Student Experience Marketing and Outreach at Forsyth Technical Community College, dives deep into how to connect with adult learners through AI-driven program recommendations and micro-pathways.

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea 
https://...

SimpsonScarborough’s Higher Ed CMO Study

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
https://twitter.com/mallorywillsea

About The Enrollify Podcast Network:
The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you’ll like other Enrollify shows too!

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For this week's Pulse Check, we revisit Brendan Henkel's lightning session at the February Engage AI Summit, focused on using AI for application fraud detection. Brendan, AVP of Solutions Engineering at Element451, gives a crash course in how AI tools can flag potential fraudulent applications and have colleges and universities avoid losing millions.

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea 
https://www....

Mallory Willsea sits down with higher education strategist and former RHB president Sam Waterson to unpack a critical—but often overlooked—dimension of enrollment marketing and ed tech partnerships: evaluating the company behind the product.  Rather than focusing solely on demos and deliverables, the conversation challenges higher ed leaders to examine corporate strategy, ownership structure, and business incentives before signing ...

For this week's Pulse Check, we revisit Head of Content at Element451 Erin Newton's lightning session at the February Engage AI Summit, focused on human-centered design session for ethical and user-friendly AI. She breaks down what it really takes to design AI experiences that users trust. Centered on the principles of transparency, tone, and accuracy, Erin explores how institutions can evaluate and implement AI tools responsibly. ...

Mallory sits down with Josh Dodson, VP of Performance Marketing and Analytics at BVK, to unpack one of the biggest questions in enrollment marketing today: what is actually driving enrollment? Their conversation challenges the false confidence many leaders place in dashboards, last-click reporting, and traditional attribution tools that were never designed to capture the full complexity of student decision-making. For higher ed mar...

For this week's Pulse Check, we're revisiting Brian Piper's lightning talk from the 2026 AI Engage Summit earlier this month. In just 15 minutes, Brian will teach you how to auto-generate custom reports, without coding or getting IT involved.

Watch the session: https://youtu.be/gBmn05-IdRE

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Connect With Our Host:
Mallory Willsea 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/
https://twitter.com/mallory...

Mallory Willsea sits down with Doug Gapinski, Account Director at 8th Light, to unpack the real story behind agentic AI. While LinkedIn hype suggests autonomous agents are replacing entire teams, Doug explains that the reality inside enterprise environments is far more nuanced. Agentic AI can unlock meaningful productivity gains—but only in the right contexts with clear guardrails and clean data. This conversation offers higher ed ...

Welcome to the 5th and final part of this Pulse Check series. In this episode, we turn to one of the most nuanced and hopeful findings in Ologie’s national study: across political identities, people want colleges and universities to be places for ideas, not ideologies.

That sounds inspiring in theory. In practice, it raises harder questions. What does healthy dialogue actually look like on campus right now? How do students learn to...

Mallory sits down with career strategist Robert Braathe to unpack the paradox shaping today’s workforce: nearly 80% of professionals don’t feel ready for the job market, while recruiters say they can’t find quality talent. Together, they explore how AI in hiring is reshaping career progression, what networking really means in 2026, and why impact—not titles—drives advancement.

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In a job market this bleak, more cand...

In Part 4 of Pulse Check: The Reputation Rethink, we turn to one of higher education’s most important, and according to our research, most underserved audiences: alumni.

Ologie’s national study revealed a striking insight: only 43% of respondents believe colleges and universities meaningfully benefit their alumni. Even more telling, most respondents hold college degrees themselves. These are alumni saying they feel least benefited ...

Today, listeners get an inside look at how one institution is moving from AI experimentation to structured implementation. Mallory sits down with Joe Manok, Vice President of Advancement at Clark University and founder of GlobalPhilanthropy.ai, to unpack how his team is building seven purpose-built AI agents with governance, budgets, and human oversight built in from day one.

Rather than chasing hype around AI in higher education, ...

In this episode of Pulse Check: The Reputation Rethink, we turn to two areas where public skepticism about higher education becomes more pronounced: money and local community impact.

Ologie’s national study revealed that most people believe colleges and universities provide value to society, but when the conversation shifts to how institutions are funded and how they show up in their communities, confidence begins to waver.

Host Da...

In this episode of Higher Ed Pulse, hosted by Mallory Willsea, listeners hear directly from a senior marketing major navigating AI in higher education in real time. Mallory sits down with Sydney Yund, a University at Albany student, to unpack what it means to prepare for entry-level roles in an AI-powered workforce.

From prompt engineering assignments to AI screening job applications, this conversation explores how today’s students...